So by Friday, we were ready for the Apocalypse. Storm Of The Century Of The Week and all that. As always, it started while we were inside, and the thing about our office is that you can't really see out of the windows. We're in the middle of the building on top of that, so we don't even have any windows. It's probably why we're all completely insane.
When it started snowing, it came down fast, almost in sheets at times. It was up to two or three inches an hour in some cases. I had the NBA page, so I couldn't cut out early or anything, and I ended up staying until the end of the night, during which the snow changed over to rain, slowed down, changed back to snow, and eventually stopped. The local Fox station's weather map had no temperature reading from Allentown, promptimg me to start making "We've lost contact! Come in, Allentown! Come in!" jokes.
When I finally finished up and got to leave, I went out into the freezing cold (but surprisingly clear) parking lot and put the key in the car.
It hiccuped, but that was it.
Tried again - another hiccup.
Uh-oh.
And the situation suddenly takes a turn from "not good" to "decidedly bad."
This went on for a good 10 minutes or so before I gave up and went for help. Mark knew something was wrong as soon as he saw me walk back into the building. We went back out to the parking lot, and Dave used my cables to try to give me a jump from his car, but it didn't take for whatever reason. In no mood at this point to wait however many hours it might take for AAA to show up, I took Mark's offer of a ride home.
Saturday
I get out of the shower and my parents call to see how I am and what's going on down here. After explaining what's happened so far (which I led into by asking if the battery in the car was the original one - it was), Dad figures that it's D-E-A-D DEAD and that I need a new one, and I'll have to call AAA and get one. It's also snowing again.
Villanova smacked the uckfay out of Kansas.
Work passed without incident. Wait, that's not true - as often happens during weather like this, we lost the wire service for a while because snow accumulates on the satellite dish on the roof and interfered with the signal. So we had to call Facilities and have someone go up on the roof and clean the dish. There's almost nothing going on locally because of the weather.
I decided to wait overnight again and call AAA in the morning for a jump, then just go and get a new battery if I have time. I spent the night at the Holiday Inn Express, which didn't have ESPN2 OR Food Network, so I couldn't watch the Serena match or Iron Chef. Daniels/Styles on TNA Impact was decent, and I now know what the AJ Death Drop is.
Keep in mind at this point that my car's still in the parking lot.
Sunday
So I overplayed my hand with the in-room heater overnight and wake up sweating like a hog. After a shower and the complimentary continental breakfast (cereal in too-small bowls, juice in too-small cups), I call AAA at about 11:30 (This weekend has been an excellent reminder that I need to renew my membership) and tell them I need a jump start. I made the 15-minute walk back to the office and turned on the Sharapova match because I'm burned out on football pre-analysis at this point and just want the games to start.
Around 12:30 the phone rang at my desk. It's AAA - the truck's here. I get the jump, and this time it takes. Half an hour later, I'm finally out of there. Know now that I have to go back in four hours. I made my way to Pep Boys and found out that it'd be a three and a half hour wait for a battery installation, so so much for that. I went home, carved out a parking spot, and immediately came back outside with a shovel to clear a path back out of said parking spot. Yeah, I don't know, either.
Because I'm paranoid by nature anyway, I was running outside every two hours or so to start the car and make sure I wouldn't get trapped somewhere else. I returned to work and announced that if the Eagles lost again, I would not be held responsible for my actions. Thankfully, you won't be seeing me on the cover of Newsweek in the bad way any time soon.
TUESDAY: Championship Sunday recap
WEDNESDAY: The Top 15 Of 2004
THURSDAY: I finally finish that on-site from the U.S. Poker Championship (which should be airing any time now - at least it was supposed to)
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